November eNewsletter

This Friday, Skip the Line and #OptOutside with RVi

Friends, it’s time to put away your credit cards and lace up your hiking boots. For the second year in a row, we at RVi urge you to participate in #OptOutside this Black Friday! Share your adventures with us by tagging us on social media, and you’ll be entered to win our Outdoor Adventure Pack, including a $100 REI gift card, 26 oz Yeti water bottle, and custom RVi bandana!

The backstory: In 2015, outdoor goods retailer REI made history by closing its doors on the biggest shopping day of the year and paying its employees to “Opt Outside” – spending time with family, friends, and the community outdoors in nature. This movement has gained momentum year after year, with millions of participants and hundreds of businesses and organizations banding together to support the initiative.

This year, we find ourselves in a remarkably different situation. Large group gatherings, in-person community service projects, and traveling long distances is simply not advisable. But as we have seen over the past year, the outdoors has emerged as a comparatively safe environment where we can maintain social distance while still enjoying all of the positive physical and mental benefits that nature has to offer.

5 Key Considerations for Designing Built for Rent Communities

BY CHRIS JONES

Almost a decade ago, an innovative group out of Tucson worked to develop a new concept in housing – one that combined some of the key benefits of a single-family home with the lower commitment of a rental community. The single family built for rent (SFBR) concept was born, at the hands of the industry pioneer, Nexmetro Communities. Fast forward 10 years later, and the success and popularity of this housing product cannot be overstated. While it began in Tucson, SFBR has expanded well into the Phoenix area and is beginning to spread across the United States, in areas like Nevada, Colorado, Texas, and Florida.

In a nutshell, SFBR typically features detached, single story units with small, private backyards. Amenities such as pools and dog parks are shared, and residents rent the units for a rate that is typically slightly above average for the given market. With sites ranging from 6 to 30 acres, the great challenge with SFBR is balancing density requirements that make the community economically feasible with the aesthetic and programmatic elements that drive up leasing and occupancy. With that in mind, here are our top 5 considerations for designing successful built for rent communities.

Solving My Work-From-Home, Pandemic Parenting Puzzle

BY ANNIE VOS

I will never forget the date: March 16, 2020.  I pulled up to my kids’ daycare to drop off my one and three year-old children, and instead of finding their welcoming teachers ready to greet us, I found an empty parking lot and sign on the door saying that the daycare had closed indefinitely due to COVID-19.  My heart immediately sank. How on earth were my husband and I going to balance our careers and take care of our two toddlers full time?

The first few months were undeniably challenging, as my husband and I both tried to juggle our full-time jobs working from home with our two children constantly needing our attention. Fortunately, I had one pandemic advantage: I work for RVi, and their family-friendly approach and open communication went a long way toward helping my family achieve the balance I needed to care for my kids while remaining productive at my job.

In Other News